Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Glass in the past !!!


I have seen these at antique stores and mall shows where they were attached to the older type of bird cages.  Seed is all that could be fed from it.  I can't see how water could be placed into it when it has to be turned to go between the wires of the cage. It is cast in glass and is so fancy compared to the plastic bird feeders used on cages today.


This is a glass globe of a gas light used in an old house of the my wife's family home. It would have hung down off of a metal fixture or bracket.  The home eventually was switched to electricity and I found this in the attic.

The etching on the glass interests me and I don't really know how it is done.  I know stencils and sandblasting works on glass to get a cut glass look with out manually having to grind in the design.  I think a large candle sitting on a glass dish with this as globe will make a great decoration. I don't really like to burn any candles in our house but at a special meal it would work.

I am a floater today as a sub and will be doing office work and teaching high school math in the afternoon.

Thanks for stopping by and stay warm.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two pretty glass pieces today, Larry. That lamp globe would be beautiful with a candle for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

The Musical Gardener said...

I think your second piece has probably been etched with hydrofluoric acid. My wife has done this technique with classes. You mask the areas that you want left untouched, then put a liberal dose of etching cream (weak HF acid) and allow it to chew away at the glass for a few minutes, then you wash it all off. It etches the surface of the glass. I'm not sure in a commercial operation, what the process would be, but I would assume it would be similar.

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

I remember my sister-in-law using those glass bird seed feeders for her canaries. Much more attractive than the plastic.

The old glass globe is really pretty. You can buy "candles" with led lights that run on batteries if you're worried about the flame and smoke. Some look so real, you'd never notice. Some have timers and will come on at a certain time each day for you.

Far Side of Fifty said...

We don't burn candles either unless we lose power. Maple lane is right..add some greens and a candle on a silver serving tray and you will be all set:)